Throwback Thursday and Toe-Tap
Toe-tap was born in vaudeville as an effort to raise the
stakes – simply dancing on one’s toes wasn't amazing enough to satisfy the
audience any more. Two stars
of the day that popularized this dance form were Harriet Hoctor (http://balletwebb.blogspot.com/2014/01/throwback-thursday-bending-over.html
) and Marylin Miller. Ms. Hoctor was a
Broadway star in the 1920s and 1930s who tapped up a escalator in pointe shoes constructed
with steel shanks. Ms. Miller was famous
in vaudeville and was considered one of the best toe-tappers of her day.
Other dancers soon incorporated steel shanks into their
pointe shoes that allowed them to dance such things as the Charleston on
pointe. Some performers added other
things to their choreography, like playing the trumpet while tap-dancing on
pointe.
It wasn't long before toe-tap became a national craze. Dance studios began offering lessons in this
eccentric dance form and students performed it in their recitals. It was popular until the 1960s when horror
stories of debilitating injuries caused by the use of these toe-tap pointe shoes
began circulating.
There are few teachers today who teach this novelty – and I
don’t recommend it to my students due to the injuries that could result. But it provides a fascinating glimpse into
the past.
From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:
Dance History Factoid #58:
“ Toe-tap was a dance
craze that developed during the vaudeville era.”
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all human behavior as one two things: either love, or a call for love.”
― Marianne Williamson
― Marianne Williamson
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Toetap seems to be making a comeback. At least whenever people who've neve seen it do, they are very interested and want more.
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